A swelling movement

The Rocky

Monday, January 21, 2008

In a tightly regulated environment, the prospect of freedom can become contagious.

Just ask Manual High School Principal Rob Stein, who last week requested the same sort of autonomy desired by the principal and faculty of Bruce Randolph Middle School. In December, Bruce Randolph asked for a waiver from most of the provisions of the contract between Denver Public Schools and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association. Other campuses in northeast Denver may join this campaign.

We're heartened by this spontaneous uprising. It has been led as much by unionized teachers as by school management; two-thirds of Bruce Randolph's DCTA members backed autonomy, and at Manual the vote was unanimous. The DPS board unanimously approved Bruce Randolph's request last month, so the district is open to giving some schools more control.

But the union brass has balked. Union officials insist they aren't rejecting the autonomy request. Instead, at a Jan. 8 vote, the board said it needed more time "to identify which provisions to the contract, if any, impede student achievement." Union President Kim Ursetta echoed those sentiments when she spoke with us after the vote. She called the Bruce Randolph proposal "vague."

The speed of approval matters because school budgets will be largely set in February; the campuses would gain much more leverage in allocating the money they get from the district under the autonomy agreements.

If the union wants to know what provisions impede learning, how about those involved in hiring? At present, Bruce Randolph and Manual can't recruit teachers who are willing to accept the challenges these schools face with the same freedom enjoyed by private schools. Stein told us that one teacher he "hired on a handshake" last April eventually took another job because the teacher was not added to the district's payroll until September.

The union's stalling could backfire. Greg Ahrnsbrak, the DCTA representative at Bruce Randolph, told us that the teachers' resolve to push for the autonomy agreement has only intensified since the board delayed its decision.

After all, as Ahrnsbrak said, the union is supposed to represent the views of its membership, and the faculty at some schools have passionately embraced autonomy. "You would think the union would support its members," he said.

For students' sake, let's hope the union board is listening.